Millions of tons of garbage drifted from Japan to the United States

The huge amount of garbage caused by the tsunami in March in Japan is floating in the ocean and heading towards the US, scientists said.

Blocks of rubbish from Japan floating in the Pacific Ocean. (Photo: KITV)

Millions of tons of garbage - including furniture, boats, refrigerators - were swept into the sea by a tsunami on March 11 in Japan. They are moving quickly across the Pacific Ocean. After a period of monitoring the garbage, scientists at the University of Hawaii in the US predicted they could reach the west coast of the United States within the next three years.

'According to our preliminary calculations, the amount of garbage coming from Japan is about 5 to 20 million tons,' said Jan Hafner, a University of Hawaii scientist, on KITV TV in the Hawaiian Islands.

Sailors on a Russian ship called STS Pallada found garbage in a position about 3,200km from Japan last month. They saw some furniture, some tools and things that could float on the water. The sailors picked up a boat of fishermen. Its length is about 6m. The words "Fukushima" are painted outside the boat.

"This is the first time that information about garbage from the tsunami in Japan has been verified ," Hafner said.

Earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan on March 11 made more than 20,000 people dead and missing.